Spurlock (pictured), his company Warrior Poets, Dakota Group and Submarine are to coproduce a feature doc based on author Robert Sullivan's bestselling book about rats in New York City.

Morgan Spurlock (pictured) is to direct and produce Rats NYC, a feature documentary based on author Robert Sullivan’s bestselling book about rats in New York City.

Dakota Group and Submarine acquired the rights to Sullivan’s book, Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants, earlier this year and negotiated the deal to bring Spurlock and his company Warrior Poets on board.

Exec producers are David Koh, Stanley Buchthal, Dan Braun and Josh Braun for Dakota and Submarine, while Spurlock and Jeremy Chilnick will exec produce for Warrior Poets. Submarine will handle domestic and worldwide sales.

Like the book, the doc will feature exterminators, city officials, sanitation workers, mobsters, activists, scientists and historians who explain how a rodent considered a pest by New Yorkers can also be integral to scientific discoveries.

“We will learn where they came from, how they got here and why they survive and ultimately look at them as a most interesting metaphor for human beings in a unique city like New York City,” the companies said in a joint statement.

“As a New Yorker, I’ve had a two decade-long love-hate affair with rats,” Spurlock added. “We’ve all seen them, and we all live with them, we just don’t want to know we’re living with them. This movie is going to be a modern day horror film – it will make you squirm, scream and jump out of your chair. You may not like rats, but you’ll love this movie.”